Things Change As Life Goes On

Hehe... Good news!

2009-04-28T22:35:00.002-04:00

So I had a few more support donations come in while I was at home in Canada and guess how much they bring the total to? You guessed it - $2550 which means I'm at 100%!!!

I'm not even sure what to say about that, other than praise the Lord and thank you to anyone and everyone who gave prayerfully and financially!

I don't even really know what else to say or do - but I'm super excited about it!

Um...What?

2009-04-10T23:30:00.002-04:00

so... really? it's been a week since i wrote that last post? interesting...

today i gave my capstone final presentation - the big one! it went really well. i've been working with an awesome group of girls from school and it's been a lot of fun to hang out and get to know them through this process. it got intense at times, but all in all i think it worked out quite well. i don't know if i was on an extreme adrenaline rush or what, but on the way home after our presentation i was ready to drive straight to concord and start my job! i felt like i could take on the world. i am legitimately looking forward to heading back to work. it's satisfying to end the day knowing you used your brain and accomplished something, each day is a new challenge!

i'm assuming you've all noticed it's easter weekend - yay! my easter basket came in the mail from mommy-dearest of mine :)

when i sat down i still had all the adrenaline i was just talking about... but it's fading fast, so i'll leave you with this:

blessings for the Lord's people

isaiah 30-18

So the Lord must wait for you to come to him

so he can show you his love and compassion.

For the Lord is a faithful God.

Blessed are those who wait for his help.

good night!

The End Draws Near

2009-04-06T07:16:00.002-04:00

Wow... talk about busy! Today marks the beginning of my last full week as a college student - WEIRD! I can still remember with vivid detail the day I moved into 303 Stetson West freshman year. It was HOT! That was the day I met Missy, who knew she would turn out to be such a dear friend throughout college... Me and Dad came out from taking a load of stuff upstairs and saw Mom talking to someone and I think we both said "o gosh, who's she talking to... we're going to have to talk to them too!" But almost 5 years later I'm real glad they ran into us that day. It rained buckets the first day of classes, I was soaked through after being outside for roughly 20 seconds, a great start to a college career.

Anyway, that's enough nostalgia for one morning. At the moment I should be preparing a final presentation for my Geoenvironmental Engineering class - Pinette's Salvage Yard Superfund Site in Washburn Maine is the topic of discussion this morning. Other than that I have a two assignments, two finals and another presentation standing between me and a college degree! yikes! Everything is done and over with on April 14th. I'll be heading to Canada on the 15th and it looks like I'll be staying there until the 27th. June 1st I start my new job, Hurrah! I'm excited to go to work, but after having discussed with one of my roommates last night we've decided it may also be an underlying cause of stress. She's a social worker so she's good with feelings ;) But all and all I think it'll be an ok adjustment into adult life, I'm definitely not too worried about it. God is good and I know He's going to lead me to and through anything that comes my way!

Onto other news - the support raising is amazing! (a little early morning rhyme for you!) I'm at 60%! Praise the Lord! Our airfare was discounted $250 which was a huge blessing for all involved. We had a team meeting last night and I'm so excited to be going with the people I'm going with. They are a lot of fun and we all seem to get along really well, which is always a good thing. I can't wait to see Sarah Joy, I haven't seen her since September but I've been reading emails and we've chatted online a bit - it's going to be amazing to see her in her element! I'm going Tuesday to get my vaccinations so be praying I don't get sick from them!

In yet other news - Cherie Hendrickson and Deanna McDevitt came to my church on Sunday! They are two very good friends of mine who I NEVER get to see, we're all unfortunately extremely busy people, but it was awesome to talk to them for a while and get caught up a little.

Well I better get to that presentation or else this little adventure at Northeastern might get stretched into this summer, yikes!

Little Car Rides Again!

2009-03-29T23:08:00.003-04:00

Never fear, the little car is back in action!! After a clutch and break repair she's back on the road ready to roll, hurray! I missed her, but thanks to the lovely Courtney Trahan, I had wheels whenever I needed them while she was out of commission!

In other news - yesterday I went to a farm! Many Hands Organic Farm in Barre, MA. I'm in a class called Eating and the Environment, which is very interesting and informative. It focuses on things like local food, organic food and how what we consume and its origins affect both our bodies and the environment. Our trip out to Many Hands gave us a look into the life of farmers and how it's done. It was a lot of work, but coming out of Woods Harbour I didn't find it any more rigorous than a day hauling and baiting trawl (thanks Dad :) Since it's the spring and things are yet to be planted there wasn't a lot of agriculture happening. We spent the day burning brush that had fallen during the winter ice storm and collecting rocks out of the fields. But I think we all had fun playing in the dirt and using our hand for something. More than anything, it was just plain nice to get out of the city for a day!

I wish I'd taken pictures, but unfortunately I wasn't in the mood and am now regretting it.

I guess that's all the news for now. I'm up to 39% in the support raising for Liberia! Thanks everyone!

Poor Little Car... Broken

2009-03-20T18:00:00.006-04:00

My poor little car is out of commission. But it's ok - it's getting repaired tomorrow! Hurrah!

In other news, I've also lost my voice! haha - unfortunate, but also not permanent.

Psalm 51:16-17

"You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.

You do not want burnt offering.

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.

You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God."

I like this. We kind of talked about it in my Faith Group Thursday night, and I've been thinking a lot about it anyway. That's the only thing that God wants from us - a broken and contrite heart. Well, not that we've established that, what does it mean to have a broken heart?

I don't know for sure, I only know what I've experienced. And I know who my God is, which has led me to this conclusion - that a broken heart in the sense that we may be accustomed to using the phrase is not the same broken heart referred to in this scripture.

A definition I located online said "devastating sorrow and despair", and another "intense emotional pain and/or suffering". Now when I think about the things God wants for my life, these are not on the list. I know my God to be loving, and I know He desires all things to be for His glory as a loving God - so it wouldn't add up in my mind and heart that His desire would be for me to be broken hearted. Instead, I've been looking at it from two other angles:

1. He does desire us to have a broken heart, but only over one topic - the separation sin causes between us and God. His entire purpose since the fall has been to restore the relationship between us (His creation) and Himself. The culmination of this effort of course being the sacrifice of His own son Jesus to fulfill the just requirement of the law - the law which if we can recall was initially given so that the people could have a guideline to work with in order to purify themselves before God. So now that this just requirement has been fulfilled all that must be done in order to come into the presence of God is confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). So this brings us not only into right relationship with God, but also ensures that upon Christ's return to judge the earth and everything in it those who have believed in Him will be taken to heaven, the alternative of course being hell. What does all this have to do with a broken heart? Think of it this way - God created us, has done absolutely everything He could to bring us back into relationship with Him, and what has our response been? There are a range of responses to Him, but the broken heart He desires would result from a realization that He has literally done it all for us, has planned the rest of our lives, has nothing but good things to give us and our response has been to forget about Him most of the day, not tell other people about this great thing God has done because we're afraid of what they will say, or we continue to search for something better which essentially says what He's done isn't good enough. If we feel bad about not responding to an email, I think broken heart wouldn't be an over reaction for dishonoring His offer of life lived in His care.

2. The other sense of a broken heart that I feel is applicable in this situation would be "humbled" or "tamed, trained to obey", which at first doesn't sound appealing - but if you think of a strong and powerful horse, all that power is like a loose cannon until the horse is 'broken' and can be controlled. Under the guidance of a loving and caring master, that horse will be given everything it needs, and its strength will be put into productive use for a good purpose. Controlled by a harsh master, that horse will be miserable and abused for its strong spirit. But in the care of a good master, that spirit would be encouraged and channeled. God desires to break us so that He can channel and encourage our giftings and our spirits to be used for our good and for His glory.

Unfortunately, sometimes our heart first breaks in the sense we all know and have experienced, but as we learn more about who God truly is our responses to that heart ache begin to align with the reality He is calling us into. For we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purposes for them (Romans 8:28). So if we can believe that He is good, we can begin to see how He can work things for our good, even if they were initiated for our destruction.

I think those are all the thoughts I had on this topic for now... I hope they came out the way I was thinking them...

PROVISION!

2009-03-17T18:22:00.005-04:00

So, in case you missed the memo, I'm raising money to go to Liberia (see widget to left). I had been looking into the vaccinations I needed to go (among them typhoid, yellow fever, rabies, polio, malaria and a few others I already have). I found out yesterday/this morning that the lowest cost I could find thus far is in the $600 range, on top of the $2800 I was planning to raise anyway = uber expensive! (uber, there's a little MA slang for you). So I thought to myself, "how exactly is this going to work?" Well, as per usual, God had a plan.

I went to school a little stressed but had every intention of putting it in God's hands. He is a God who provides and has shown that in the past, so why not now. My good friend, who's name will go unmentioned, texted me early in the day to say she had something to give me. I had no idea what this might be, but was thinking along the lines of maybe a good cookie :) Well, I finally made it to her house around 1ish and proceeded to tell the harsh news about the $600. Her response was "O, hey! Perfect. I just got my tax return and prayed about what to do with it and God said I should give it to you!" How much was it you ask? $610. Perfect you say? I say divine provision. Praise the Lord, He provides!

Support Raising!

2009-03-11T20:36:00.002-04:00

So, you may or may not have noticed the nice little box next to my posts... it's something you can click on to support my trip to Liberia! Didn't know I was going to Liberia? that's ok... there's still time to find out about it :) click on the box, or this link to find out more!

I just got word that we need to have $2100 ASAP to purchase our plane tickets, so if you're at all interested in supporting our team's trip now is the time! I have formal letters to send out, but in the interest of time I thought I'd start on here :)

SPRING BREAK!!

2009-03-08T20:11:00.008-04:00

Well I just completed my final spring break... good times. The quick version is I went to Florida with my good friend Missy Elumba and spent a few days with her grand parents, then flew up to New York for a day and a half, then bussed back to Boston. But here's the longer version...

Well, as I mentioned before, we were suppose to leave on Monday, but since Boston got almost a foot of snow we didn't end up leaving until Tuesday, which was ok. We flew from Boston to Atlanta, and then into Orlando - all of which was fairly uneventful (at least as far as I remember). When we arrived we were greeted by two very happy little Filipino's - Lola and Lolo! They are Missy's grandparents (also known as Grace and Ted). They live part of the year in a retirement community called The Villages. We knew it was a golf cart community so we were ready for something mildly bazaar, but it was far beyond what we expected!

First, a little info on The Villages - by golf cart community i mean you can travel almost anywhere in a golf cart. They have their own shopping centers, restaurants, a bizillion golf courses, polo, recreations centers, hospitals, literally anything they need! it was crazy. When the Elumba's moved in there was approximately 15,000 residents. Currently there are approximately 75,000 people living there!! Holy Smoke! there is an elementary school, and high school for the children of Village employees... it was insane. So the first night we were there we decided to venture out to a movie. As you can see we took the golf cart:

Actually, you can't tell that well from these pics... but we did. We saw Last Chance Harvey - I don't recommend it. Emma Thompson - outstanding... always is. Dennis Hoffman, just plain creepy in this one. Not my fav.

Anyway, We also strolled around one of the Town Squares and took in a band, some cute little shops, stepped into a fancy tea place and sat down only to realize it was not in our league so we ditched (yikes!), saw some sweet square dancing! and purchased sun glasses (which turned out to be clutch during the rest of the trip).

Wednesday we hit the driving range early and warmed up for our game that night - we got all dressed up! I got to drive over in the golf cart with Lola:

We teed it up for nine holes, which was a lot of fun... I of course got smoked - Those Filipinos know how to golf! anywho, it was a great time, followed up with a pizza dinner!

Let's pause for a moment and mention that Filipinos eat meat all the time - all meat and carbs... and they eat a lot of it! It's going to be a rough week weaning myself off all the food I've been consuming. I literally probably gained 8 pounds while I was gone. Lola makes a good meal I'll tell you that! No vegetables, but it's dang good!

Thursday we drove an hour away to get crab - my how the Filipino's love their crab! I have to get the pictures from Missy, it was intense! so much food... so much mess... so much fun! After coming back we sat outside and read for a while and then headed towards Tampa to visit our good friend Courtney (well, she's a good friend now, we didn't know each other all that well until we went lol) After a late night Dairy Queen run, we hung out talking and what not until we hit the sack - we had to rest for Friday's all day beach event!

We legit sat in the sun all day Friday - hence why I am scorched! We took some pretty pics of the area and of us :)

Well after the day in the sun we cruised back up to The Villages, spent the evening hanging with some of Missy's cousins and hit the road for New York early the next day. New York was great, we took in another flick - Slumdog Millionaire. It was Missy's second time seeing it, my first, and i liked it! We had some Papa Johns, missed out bus to New Jersey, but finally made it to my good friend Sonia's house! She let us spend the night with her, which I'm soo thankful for!

We headed back to the city early Sunday, attended a service at Times Square Church which was amazing! The sermon is up here dated March 8th. I'll write more about it once I've listened again... but that about sums up the trip... We Fung Wah'd it back to Boston, our fav form of transportation. The lovely Courtney Trahan deposited me at my house, and every since I've been writing this long and detailed message. I'll get some better pics up when I get Missy's... she's more of a photographer than I am...

Moving On

2009-02-28T22:39:00.002-05:00

It's been a long and crazy year thus far.... I'm not really sure where to begin, but i'll type up a quick synopsis so we can move forward from there...

Well I moved in with Veda, Michelle and Kierstin in September to a BEAUTIFUL townhouse. I love it here in Brighton, no complaints there. I've been commuting to school where I'm finishing up my senior year. It looks like I'll graduate May 1st with a degree in Civil Engineering, a minor in Environmental Science and another in Environmental Studies. As everyone who's been enar me knows I've been greatly impacted by the things I've been learning and have developed a passion for the environment and how the way we live our lives affect it.

Along with that, this was the first year I didn't play hockey, which came with it's pluses and minuses... I've really missed having teammates and their constant company, but it has been great to spend time discovering who I am outside of a team-oriented setting - what my likes and dislikes are independent of anyone else... what did I discover? I'm a rampant environmentalist who likes music, cooking and aspires to be a vegetarian!

All that aside... I guess we're more or less up to date... I was suppose to leave tomorrow morning at 6AM for Florida - gotta love spring break! but due to in-climate weather we've been delayed until Tuesday morning, but I guess that's ok, just one of those great side effects of living in New England. So after spring break there's a trip home, graduation, LIBERIA and then back to work at AECOM.

I guess that's about all for now, more later....

The Fall

2008-10-22T09:58:00.003-04:00

Well, it's been quite some time since I tried to capture my life via the written word. A lot has happened to say the least...

I've moved into my new town house with my 3 amazing roommates. Kierstin (the teacher), Michelle (the social worker) and Veda (the medical researcher). We have a lot of fun together and they have been SUCH a blessing. I do miss my old life with my teammates, but I think I'm adjusting quite well to the change. I went to my first game as a non-participant last weekend, they won so it was definitely exciting!! Kierstin and a guy named Scott from our Faith Group came with me and we had a lot of fun.

In other news, I cooked a turkey last weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving and proceeded to almost burn our house down. Not really, but every smoke detector in the entire house went off, but the bird was delicious so it was worth it. A bunch of us went to Rochon's house and had turkey, stuffing, cheesy potatoes and cake! It was a great evening enjoyed by all who attended.

The past three days I have been in Chicago, IL. My hydrologic engineering class received a grant to do an environmental comparison of Chicago and Boston, so we used part of the money to fly us all over to the WEFTEC conference (a huge water/wastewater conference) and we also met with the city's waterboard and the chief environmental engineer to discuss the initiatives in place to improve Chicago's eco-friendliness. It was a great trip, super exhausting, but I got to make friends in my classes for the first time ever so that was great! I then proceeded to skip my class this morning as I slept through my alarm and didn't feel like rushing as I am still exhausted.

I think that's all for now, more has happened, but I hear the quiet place whispering my name and after a few crazy days I'm looking forward to relaxing with Him for a while... bye friends!

Home again Home again

2008-09-07T21:33:00.002-04:00

I'm living in my house. I'm here, and I'm staying! We moved in on Monday, so it will be a full week tomorrow that I've been here. I love it. The place is gorgeous, and my roommates are amazing... I couldn't have asked for more from the Lord, and as I'm saying that I'm realizing how much I've taken for granted what He has done for me. I should be on my knees in thankfulness everyday, but instead I carry on as if I deserve to have blessings handed to me on a silver platter.

On a lighter note, school starts on Wednesday. It'll be nice to be established in a routine again. I'm excited for all of my classes, they should be relatively applicable to what I want to do with my life.

I'm adjusting to life here in Brighton, it's different, but I like it.

One more International Exchange

2008-08-27T16:00:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow morning I head back to Canada. It's my last trip of the summer before school starts in the fall. Things have gradually been falling into place and while I've enjoyed my time on the move I'm definitely ready to settle. The summer has been a small piece of insanity, but in the midst of it I have learned a lot about what it means to live in today and not worry about tomorrow. I couldn't even begin to put words to the changes in my life, but they are real. I'm finally beginning to realize that life is like water running through my fingers; it does no good for me to try and hold on to it and if I can stop focusing on trying to save and preserve each drop and trust that it will continue to flow as abundantly as it is right now I can allow myself to freely enjoy the feeling of refreshment.

What's that you say? Slovakia?

2008-08-25T07:19:00.005-04:00

So, I ah went to Slovakia this weekend...

Last summer when I was in the Czech I met our friend Martina. She is a christian and a hockey player from Slovakia, so this weekend Chelsa and I decided to go see her, and what an adventure it was...

We decided to get our tickets right before we got on the train, but ended up missing the direct train to Presov (the city near where Martina lives). So we caught a second train that took us to Bratislava first and then Presov. We had a sleeper car for the 5 hour ride to Bratislava which we shared with two girls who sounded like they were from England, but we then had to sit on the floor of the overbooked train the 7 hours from Bratislava to Presov. Let's just say we were more than relieved to arrive and see Martina's face!

We spent the weekend at her house with her parents. Her mom made us so much food, and it was delicious. She couldn't have possibly been more hospitable and although I had almost zero ability to communicate with her, I absolutely fell in love!

We got to spend most of the weekend fellowshipping with Martina's Christian friends, who were conveniently also her hockey team. In the 3 short days we were there they became like family. Some spoke good English, some could get by, and some spoke almost no English, but through a series of facial expressions, translations and general noises we managed to get to know each others personalities and hearts. We attended their weekly bible study Friday night which was followed by hockey practices (which they found gear so i could skate with them) and then had a BBQ where more chicken was cooked than I'd ever seen before. We spent the morning playing soccer and learning about dynamic warm-ups, then dropped in on the village soccer game at the local fair (guess we picked the right weekend to visit, just in time for the fair!) and that night some of us watched the others scrimmage. On Sunday we went to a field where Chelsa taught proper slap shot technique (shooting pucks out into the open field, hilarious) while i talked with two of Martina's friends who didn't play hockey. It was such a special experience for me to get to talk about friends falling in love with the Lord, falling away from the Lord, hanging on the fence on how they felt about the Lord, the struggle between traditional Christianity and authentic love for Christ and relationship with Him. It made the world a little smaller for me once again to talk with a Slovakian geo-tech and social-worker about their lives, hopes, dreams and experiences. We polished off the trip with a visit to the fair, which was definitely over when we arrived as there were only about 10 other people still there, but they fired up the spinning swings and we went for a ride anyway! One last hockey game was played before we packed up the cars and headed back to the train.

Parting with my new sisters was rough, but we had to jump on the train in about 10 seconds so it didn't really allow time for tears. I am hoping that some day I will be able to return to this group of people who have been left untainted by the western world in many respects. Instead of spending the day on facebook and MSN they go outside and play in their rag-tag group of friends ranging in age from 15 to 27. It was a pure and authentic experience I hope I won't soon forget.

The ride back to Prague was a little nicer than the ride out, we pre-purchased tickets for a first-class sleeper car (which while it was considerably nicer than our first experience it still wasn't the first class one would experience in North America). Chelsa and I arrived back in Prague this morning and went with our friends to breakfast. I've adjusted to life quite well here in Europe and I'll definitely be sad to leave. The list of funny and random things that have happened is never ending, but for now I think I will end this little message with a few pics...

Our Rag-Tag Group

Chelsa and I with Coffee (our best friend)

The Worlds Oldest Swing Ride (With Martina, Chelsa and Katca)

Some of my New Friends Seeing us off in the Train Station

Just Czeching In

2008-08-17T16:51:00.003-04:00

So I'm in the Czech Republic...

I'm visiting my good friend Chelsa Heywood who is living over here. Last year was her first season with HC Slavia, the hockey team she's playing with, and now she is an official stinter with Athletes in Action and playing her second season. Lucky me, I get to come visit :)

Thus far I've spent a day getting over jet-lag, had some awesome pizza, watched Harry Potter 2&3, done some extreme yoga and been to the church she attends here called Faith Community (interesting, I go to Community of Faith...isn't that cute!) We also spent the morning in a coffee shop spending some time with the Lord, doing a little reading and having some great conversation about what the Lord has been doing in our lives.

She has three roommate/teammates here and since they are all currently living in a flat for two Chelsa and I have been sleeping in another flat on the other side of town, which is where we are heading now! It's only been about 36 hours since I got here so we haven't gotten to do a whole lot yet, but I'll keep you posted!

My Evening View outside the Rink in Kralupy

Canada

2008-08-07T22:28:00.002-04:00

I've arrived in Canada. I'm only here for 6 days, just hanging with the fam before I head out to Prague to spend some time with my sister Chelsa. It was a hectic adventure to get here and has alleviated almost any desire I've ever had to go backpacking somewhere. I carried almost everything I own on my back as I left my car in Portland, Maine before making the crossing via The Cat (a high-speed catamaran ferry that docks in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and Portland, Maine).

Anyway, that's about all I have to report for today, short and sweet. It's nice to be in my own bed. I'm starting to feel at home in my own skin all the time and it's comforting. I am me, I am not my surroundings - while that may seem like an obvious statement it carries more weight than initially meets the eye.

Good night moon.

The Eternal Question

2008-08-06T20:59:00.006-04:00

People always ask me "so what did you do in Indonesia?" and I never seem to be able to come up with an answer. I feel like it should be a response easy to formulate, but it never comes out smoothly. So now I'm asking myself, what did I do in Indonesia?

This experience comes to mind at the moment: One morning after breakfast we discussed what we were going to do as a team that day and settled on going to a park called Alun-Alun to walk around and wait on the Lord to see what He had in store for us. After watching and listening to the call to prayer at a rather large mosque, and feeling the intensity of the grip Islam has on the people of Indonesia, we sat down to focus our hearts on God. I was taking some pictures (since my friends had told me how important that was) and a group of homeless/street people waved and wanted their picture taken. So I complied and this was the result:

After taking the picture and saying thank you (terima kasih, one of the few things I knew how to say) I returned to my friends. Upon my return our friend Widya wanted to go ask them if they had ever had a dream about Jesus. It is not uncommon for Muslims to have had dreams about a man dressed in white, this man being Jesus. So I returned to the group with Widyaand she began asking a man if he had ever dreamt of the man in white. Sure enough, he had. This launched a conversation that I understood very little of, but as Widya talked to this man I began to see her in a new light. She had the same nerves and fears that I often have when sharing my faith. I saw her struggle the same way I do, and I began to see her as just another person instead of seeing all the ways we were different and separate. I got the opportunity to encourage her, support her and feel her love the people we were talking to. As the conversation drew to a close we took turns praying over the man we had been talking to, as well as the group of older women who were also sitting with us.

So I guess that's what we do. We take time to talk to people, get to know them, hear their stories. We allow God to take us where He pleases and meet people who change the way we see the world. We allow the things that separate us, the things that keep us from seeing each other as brothers and sisters, to be torn down and we learn how to not be separated by race, culture, background, economic status or any of the other things that make us feel different and keep us divided. We allow the Lord to move in and through our lives in hopes that we will change, and through that change God can bring about change in others.

Home sweet Home

2008-08-05T08:49:00.002-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, by the wonderful grace of God I have a home for the fall!!!

I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am by that thought. I will be living with three amazing women that go to my church in a cozy little house in Newton. It's truly awesome the way God works, how He knits people together when they aren't aware it's happening. He prepares us for all things if we are open for it and responsive to what He puts before us. 3 weeks ago I wasn't even friends with two of my new roommates, but a going-away party and a missions trip later they've taken me in as one of their own.

There are still details to be worked out, and things could change, but it looks like the 4 of us are in it for the long haul (or at least next year!)

It's exciting stuff!

The next phase

2008-08-03T12:00:00.000-04:00

So I've decided it's about time I just went ahead and started a blog, who will read it you ask? Well apparently you will. Who else you ask? Maybe no one, but that's ok.

As summer continues I'm beginning to realize just how quickly time does in fact pass, and let me tell you it's fast! it's seems only yesterday I was finishing my internship (or co-op as we call it here at Northeastern) at Earthtech with a summer full of traveling staring me in the face. Over a month has passed since then. I've visited with my good friend Chelsa who is currently en route to the Czech Republic for another season with HC Slavia (the hockey team she played with last year). I've also spent a week at Gorden Conwell working for HMI Christian Hockey Camps, which turned out to be one of the best weeks of my life! God gave me a chance to spend some time and strengthen relationships with some very special people, and my campers were outstanding! Shortly following the completion of camp I took off to Indonesia for a two week stay. I love that country! It was another awesome adventure, it was my third time to visit there and each has been a unique experience.

So as summer begins to wind down I'm looking at two more trips to Canada (my homeland) and a 10 vacation in the Czech with Chelsa (can't wait!).

There's so much that could be said about this summer and the year to come, but I think I've said enough for now. Perhaps my fingers will tell another tale soon!